Aleigha - This is Aotearoa

Aleigha | Arahura, West Coast

“So I’ve recently started a kapa haka thing with my cousin, and we have to go to Christchurch every Sunday, and I couldn’t find a place to go, or a ride to get there, and then one of my teachers woke up at 6:30 to come get me, and drop me off three hours away from where we live. I really appreciate that.

So, there’s a kapa haka competition coming up in Christchurch called Haka Fest, and it’s where heaps of kapa haka groups come and perform their brackets, and just have a good time. I’ve been doing kapa haka my whole life, and when I’m on the stage, I feel just at my best: confident, and Māori, and I really enjoy that.

Ahakoa he iti nō te kopa o Raureka,

tāku toki pounamu e.

So I grew up in Arahura. It’s a pa, just outside of Hokitika. We recently got our Marae. Well, we re-built one. So ever since I was a kid, I’ve just spent my whole childhood up there with all my cousins and family, just learning about my tūrangawaewae and where I’m from. There’s a famous whakataukī here, because we are on te ao Poutini which is the land of the pounamu. So you say ahakoa he iti, he pounamu, even though the gift may be small, it’s still precious, and you treat it that way forever.”

What, if anything, have you done differently after visiting this site?

Hen

Hen

Hen | Hokitika, West Coast - "I’m the fifth generation. I wouldn’t say we own it, but we are like kaitiaki. Just having the river there and having all the stone there, it just kind of cemented us as people. It’s made us who we are."
Jay

Jay

Jay | Whanganui, Manawatū-Whanganui - "II’m really grateful to have been a part of that whole journey from a 14 year old where our people peacefully reclaimed that land. To now where the partnerships between local iwi, local government and Central Government are well enough that we can actually sit down in that space and kōrero, and share and be able to pass on some of the important knowledge about that place."
Karney

Karney

Karney | Aramoho, Manawatū-Whanganui - "II’m really grateful to have been a part of that whole journey from a 14 year old where our people peacefully reclaimed that land. To now where the partnerships between local iwi, local government and Central Government are well enough that we can actually sit down in that space and kōrero, and share and be able to pass on some of the important knowledge about that place."
Jecheala

Jecheala

Jecheala | Mt Roskill, Auckland - "I think being able to share the Māori culture, the indigenous culture of New Zealand and having people appreciate it, just as much as I do, was very enlightening and heart-warming for me. It teaches me that there is a willingness to share cultures here in New Zealand not just for people learning Māori, but for me, learning other cultures."
Tes

Tes

Tes | Tauhara, Waikato - "I know it sounds really funny, but I’m grateful for the time where I lost my home, I lost my children, I lost my family connections, and I’m grateful for the many experiences, the many painful experiences that brought me to a place where I had the opportunity to learn about myself."
Anaru

Anaru

Anaru | Māngere, Auckland - "For me, it was finding out what I really wanted to do with my life, and so when I returned back home, I didn’t know what I was going to do. I managed to enrol into an art and design course, in Manukau, and I realise that this is what I really wanted to do."
Brendon

Brendon

Brendon | Nukuhau, Waikato - "It was really encouraging to be able to see young people like these two men actually passing it forward, reflecting back the mahi, the work that we do out in the local community. For me, that was really encouraging to know that the fight’s worth fighting for."
Exodyss and Tez

Exodyss and Tez

Exodyss and Tez | Henderson, Auckland - "It’s good, because most friends, they leave you, and stuff like that. So, I’m grateful that we’re best friends, and so close."
Jamie

Jamie

Jamie | Hokitika, West Coast - "Tāua passed away, and it was a wee bit hard for me and my family and whānau, but I have a brother up in Auckland, and he’d always cheer me up, and I was just real grateful for him, for those couple of weeks"
Jas

Jas

Jas | Gonville, Manawatū-Whanganui - "I recently, just this year, lost my husband, and I’ve been really, really grateful for the support of friends and family but most particularly of his hapu, his extended family at Kaiwhaiki."

Aleigha | Arahura, West Coast

What, if anything, have you done differently after visiting this site?

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